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Bayfield High School Dean jumps to UNLV
High jumper signs with Runnin' Rebels
Herald Sports Writer
Photo by DALE STRODE/Herald
Bayfield High School senior Myra Dean, front, signs her letter of intent to attend the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and participate in track for the Runnin’ Rebels. Joining Dean for her celebratory signing at the BHS athletic offices last week are, from left, father Russell Dean, mother Karen Dean, coaches Jenni Guy and Sherry Kimball and former coach Vernon Kimball.
I really liked the feel of it (UNLV campus). And I really liked the coaches. They seemed very passionate (about track).
- Senior Myra Dean, Bayfield high jump school record-holder
The familiar purple, gold and black of the BHS Wolverines is about to be replaced by the scarlet and gray of the Runnin' Rebels of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Dean, a BHS senior, signed her National Letter of Intent last week to attend UNLV and compete on the Runnin' Rebels' track squad as a high jumper.
Dean, in fact, sported her comfortable new school colors at the letter-signing ceremony held in the Bayfield High School athletic offices.
“I was looking at a lot of different schools," Dean said of her college recruiting journey. “I wasn't sure if I wanted to try Division I, Division II or Division III."
Several colleges increased their recruiting efforts through the fall and into winter, when Dean was a starter on the Bayfield girls basketball team.
Nebraska-Kearney of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference upped its efforts to add Dean to the roster.
Division III schools sent inquiries.
She even drew interest from Ivy League schools in the East.
Then UNLV entered the race.
“Their coaches sent me a packet with their track information," Dean said. “Then, we talked … a lot."
Tamara Ards, UNLV's recruiting coordinator and the jump coach for the women's program, talked with Dean after reviewing videotape of the Bayfield record-setting jumper.
The UNLV coaching staff talked about her high jump potential.
“She (Ards) likes Colorado track athletes because of the weather here," Dean said. “We have a shorter season here (in Colorado), and she said she thinks Colorado athletes … can have more potential. We have a chance … to improve more."
Both Ards and UNLV head coach Yvonne Scott have extensive ties to Colorado. They were teammates on the track team at the University of Colorado before embarking on their coaching careers, which also included time with the Buffaloes in Boulder.
With her interest piqued, Dean visited the campus in Las Vegas.
“It's kind of a small campus. I really liked the feel of it," Dean said. “And I really liked the coaches. They seemed very passionate (about track)."
Plus, Dean said, the campus visit and the time with the track athletes helped her realize that she could jump at the NCAA Division I level.
“Once I got there, I felt I could definitely be at that level," said Dean, the Bayfield school record holder in the high jump (5-5).
“Myra Dean is a special, special person," said Sherry Kimball, the Bayfield High School head track coach and a noted jump coach herself. “She's worked very hard."
Dean also requested that former BHS head track coach Vernon Kimball, Sherry's husband, attend her college-signing ceremony.
“Myra is a very focused individual," Vernon Kimball said. “She absolutely loves the high jump, and she has put a lot into it."
Vernon Kimball, a member of the Colorado High School Coaches Hall of Fame, said Dean maximized her natural ability, and she took to heart the advice of jump coach Sherry Kimball.
“I may be a little prejudiced, but Myra's had one of the best high jump coaches in the state in Sherry. Sherry really knows the event, and she really can teach the event."
The Kimballs added to the family coaching tree when they brought in son Tony Kimball to work occasionally with Dean. Tony Kimball is the BHS boys school record holder in the high jump at 6-8.
Together, they're helping Dean climb the ladder that will take her above her school record of 5-5.
Dean has placed at the Class 3A State Track and Field Championships as a freshman, sophomore and junior.
She was third in 2007 and third again in 2008.
She was a state runner-up last year after clearing 5-5, the same height as the winning jumper. Dean was awarded second place based on the znumber of earlier misses in the state meet.
This year, Dean is shooting for the top spot on the podium at state.
“I've always been a high jumper," Dean said of her track and field progression.
“My seventh-grade year, I was really slow," she said with a hearty laugh. “I got kicked out of all my relays. The coach told me to go over there and try the high jump. I liked it, and I kept at it," Dean said.
“As a coach, you love coaching athletes like Myra … athletes that have a passion for it," Vernon Kimball said.
Soon, Dean will take her passion for high jumping from Bayfield's Wolverine Country Stadium to Myronn Partridge Stadium in Las Vegas.
She'll join several Colorado athletes on the UNLV women's team, including sprinters from Conifer, Overland and ThunderRidge.
Instead of competing in places like Durango, Farmington, Pagosa Springs and Monte Vista, Dean will jump in places like Los Angeles, San Diego, Cerritos, Calif., Walnut, Calif., and Austin, Texas.
And she'll be wearing scarlet and gray.
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